RELEASE DATE: 12/28/2024
SACRAMENTO – One incredibly lucky California Lottery player will undoubtedly be ringing in the new year with mega excitement after their ticket matched all six numbers in Friday night’s Mega Millions draw – the only ticket in the country to hit the $1.2+ billion jackpot. This is the largest ever Mega Millions win in California!
The big jackpot-winning ticket came from a small town in Northern California called Cottonwood. The lucky ticket was sold at the Circle K on Rhonda Road, just off Interstate 5 in Shasta County. That store will now get a $1,000,000 bonus – the highest a California Lottery retail partner can earn.
The Mega Millions jackpot had been rolling since September, and in just that near four-month period, and just from Mega Millions sales alone, the California Lottery estimates it raised an
additional $89.5 million for public schools.
“Raising a little extra money for public education is the whole reason the California Lottery exists,” said Becker. “We always love to see our players win giant jackpots, but we take even more pride in knowing that public schools are already winning no matter what. Big jackpots like this help fuel strong sales, which – in turn – helps us raise even more for education.”
Two more California Lottery players missed the jackpot by just one number, matching the first 5 numbers correctly. One was sold at the Chevron at Blue Oaks Blvd & Foothill Blvd in Roseville, and the other came from Cardenas Market at 2405 E Highland Ave in San Bernardino. Each of those winning tickets is worth more than $787,500.
The California Lottery will not know who the winners are until they claim their prizes. The jackpot winner has the choice of taking $1.269 billion over 30 annual payments or taking the lump sum, valued at nearly $571.9 million before federal taxes. The State of California does not tax Lottery winnings.
The jackpot winner has one year to come forward, while anyone else with a secondary prize-winning ticket has six months to claim. The Mega Millions jackpot now rolls back to its starting point of $20 million for Tuesday’s draw.
The California Lottery has sold three billion-dollar-plus winning tickets prior to this one; each of those was for Powerball®. The world-record $2.04 billion Powerball win happened in November of 2022 at a gas station and service center in Altadena. Then in July of 2023, a small mini market in downtown Los Angeles sold a $1.08 billion winning ticket, and just a few months after that in October, a market in Frazier Park sold a winning ticket worth $1.765 billion.
There are more than 23,000 California Lottery retail partner locations for players to pick up tickets. For every $2 Mega Millions and Powerball ticket sold in California, approximately 80 cents helps fund public education.
For video featuring more information from California Lottery spokesperson Carolyn Becker, please
use this link to download editable clips. Photographs from the winning retailer will also be shared later on the California Lottery’s X channel for news media, which can be found
here.
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The mission of the California Lottery is to raise additional funding for public education, helping to supplement school budgets for K-12 as well as colleges and universities. The California Lottery has raised more than $43.8 billion for public schools through the responsible sale of its games since 1985. Lottery funding for schools is largely discretionary, so administrators and educators can use Lottery money for instructional programs and services they may not otherwise afford. The California Lottery features eight draw games and dozens of new instant Scratchers games each year. More than 95% of California Lottery sales revenue goes back to the community in the form of prize payments, retailer commissions and bonuses, and contributions to education. More information about who benefits can be found here. As jackpots rise, the California Lottery would like to remind players that gambling should be fun. Borrowing money to play, spending above a person’s budget, or using money intended for other purposes can ultimately lead to significant problems for players and their families. If a player recognizes that they have a gambling problem or if someone knows of someone who may have a problem, the Lottery recommends calling the California Problem Gambling Help Line at 1-800-GAMBLER.
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